The Origin and Development of the Yellow Calendar

With the maturity of block printing technology, the government began to print calendars. According to historical records, in the ninth year of the Tang Dynasty (AD 835), there was an old calendar book carved with wooden boards. On the basis of these engraved calendars, a large number of things about bank taboos began to appear. However, this kind of rich evasive content is not seen in the resume of the banknote seller because of the cost factor.

Official calendars were quite popular in the Tang Dynasty, and even printed repeatedly by private individuals. For example, during the reign of Emperor Wenzong, private calendars printed by Han people were sold in the market before Si Tiantai promulgated the new calendar for next year every year, so Emperor Wenzong tasted the taste of banning private calendars in the ninth year of Taihe (835).

Because the almanac is a tool for the emperor to promulgate the calendar, people also call it the "imperial calendar".

Now we can see the earliest imperial almanac in China, one is a printed almanac of four years in Tang Xizong (AD 877) and the other is a printed almanac of two years in Tang Xizong (AD 882). This almanac is not only one of the earliest engraved almanac in the world, but also an extremely precious early engraved almanac. Unfortunately, both of them have fled abroad and are now hiding in the British Museum in London, England. The earliest existing calendar using the year number of the Northern Song Dynasty is the 978 banknote (No.S6 12) published by Emperor Taizong in Dunhuang. In addition to the general calendar, this calendar is preceded by national taboos, the new school year, the twelve years of God's true form, and the promotion of mixed-race children.

At the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, the calendar was sold by people surnamed Hou, but because of its high price, the so-called small calendars were printed privately by the Han people, and only one or two yuan was charged for each copy. In the fourth year of Zong Shenxi Ning (107 1), Wang Anshi, who implemented the new law, banned the private printing and sale of small calendars, and the government printed large calendars and sold them at a high price of several hundred yuan each. Take the first year of Yuan Wenzong calendar (1328) as an example. In that year, more than 3 million official printed calendars (commonly called "calendar days" by the ancients) were sold nationwide. On average, every four families have an officially printed calendar in the tax register of the Ministry of Family. This is definitely the best-selling singles in the world that year. And the government's income from selling calendars is as high as five thousandths of the national annual currency!

Therefore, under the consideration of politics and economy, it is no wonder that Yuan Law will impose quite severe punishment on those who print and sell calendars privately. Its terms say that those who report that they make calendars privately will be rewarded with 120 silver. If there is no official calendar to print letters, just like a private calendar, the creator violates the system. However, in some remote areas, due to the inability to obtain the official calendar of the year in time, the emergence of private calendars has not been banned. Attracted by profit-seeking, and in order to meet everyone's high demand for skills, Han folk artists have been privately compiling the annual general book, which not only covers the form of the Gregorian calendar, but also adds many rules and contents related to seeking good fortune and avoiding evil.

In the 16th year of Qing Qianlong (175 1), the law museum finally complied with the social reality and decided to allow Han people to copy the official seal of the Huangli calendar without affixing the Qin seal. According to this new law, it is no longer illegal to publish the almanac. Many candidates also began to publish their own annual encyclopedias, marked with their own names or museum numbers, and actively competed for this vast market.

As a result, the almanac has undergone great evolution, and the content of the calendar is very rich. In addition to recording the date, branches, the list of 24 solar terms and related notes, there are also three-character classics, hundreds of surnames, thousands of words, Zhu Zi's family motto, national flags of all countries in the world, various couplets, thank-you notes, submissions and complaints, folk remedies of Han nationality, Zhang Tianshi's medical skills and so on. An almanac became a small encyclopedia. Someone joked that a yearbook in hand can "do everything in Dont Ask For Help".

In the second year of Jiaqing (1797), taking Shu Tong Jichengtang as an example, it not only sold well in the southern coastal areas, but also exported overseas.

However, the astrological content in the almanac is often criticized as superstition. The yellow calendar promulgated by the Christian Taiping Heavenly Kingdom removes all taboos and only indicates solar terms and sundays; The yellow calendar promulgated during Xuantong's reign in the Qing Dynasty also prohibits the publication of taboos, conflicts, directions, fleeting time and traditional ages. During the Japanese occupation period, Taiwan Province's yellow calendar was only "appropriate" but not "taboo"; After the recovery of Taiwan, it was all restored. The almanac was reformed into a "universal book of Yin and Yang". Dr. Sun Yat-sen proposed to use the western calendar, which is now the Gregorian calendar. Thus, the solar calendar was added to the yellow calendar.

The ancient almanac was issued by Qin, and after the Republic of China, it was issued by Wushu and Japanese teachers. Local fortune tellers can hang up the hall number and publish it separately, or sell the copyright as a gift from public and private institutions.

Private bookstores also began to print imperial calendars. Someone borrowed the word "Huang" from Emperor Xuanyuan, renamed the "Imperial Calendar" as "Huang Calendar", also called "Book of Constitution", and then Emperor Xuanyuan created The Romance. But in fact, this is just a fabrication of later generations. For thousands of years, the almanac has been the best-selling book among Han people in China! There is no sign of being eliminated by the times. Even after the Republic of China, under the impact of scientism, ordinary books continued to be published, which is really a big difference in the history of publishing. For example, Taiwan Province Province prints about five or six million yellow calendars every year. About two-thirds of the almanac and general books in Taiwan Province are claimed to have inherited the "Jichengtang" general books in Hong Chao and Fujian two hundred years ago; The source of Hong Kong's popularity is Shu Tong of Luo Chuanlie, the "Taoist Temple" in Guangdong.

Many modern people have a deep dependence on the Gregorian calendar. Scholars believe that the popularity of the Huangli calendar for thousands of years reflects the uncertainty of people's lives in China. Generally speaking, this book contains many contents related to good or bad luck or life customs. Although it is an unpretentious popular publication in every era, China people's belief in the concept of choosing auspicious dates has long restricted many social activities (such as land reclamation, funeral celebrations and even election registration).

Therefore, the study of Shu Tong or the Yellow Calendar will not only help us to know more specifically the spread mode and influence of counting in society, but also have a good opportunity to turn it into a key to understand ancient popular culture and daily life, which deserves more attention from academic circles and civil authorities.